title: An evaluation of microbial health risks to livestock fed with wastewater-irrigated forage crops.
abstract: This paper presents the results of five experiments in which animal health risks associated with the consumption of crops irrigated with domestic wastewater were evaluated. Forage maize and Tanner grass were irrigated with treated wastewater and used in goats and calves feeding trials. The irrigated crops presented high levels of surface contamination with E. coli (10(4) -10(7) 25 g(-1) ) and salmonellae (up to 1.6 × 10(4) 25 g(-1)), but none of the animals showed signs of infection or of disease. Further, the microbiological quality of animal products always complied with the Brazilian and European Union standards for food safety. It is suggested that the WHO guideline values for restricted irrigation (≤ 10(4) E. coli 100 ml(-1) and ≤ 1 helminth egg l(-1)), which were developed to protect the health of agricultural field workers, would be equally protective of the health of both animals fed with wastewater-irrigated crops and humans consuming products from such animals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Bevilacqua
authors.forename: R K X
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.forename: D D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Mara
mesh_terms: D057914:Agricultural Irrigation; D000821:Animal Feed / Q000382:microbiology*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005516:Food Microbiology; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D006041:Goats; D008892:Milk / Q000382:microbiology; D006109:Poaceae / Q000382:microbiology; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000382:microbiology*; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid; D062065:Wastewater; D014871:Water Microbiology; D003313:Zea mays / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D062065:Wastewater
keywords: Reuse; food hygiene; human food chain; salmonella hazard